JUNIOR RECRUITING A KEY TO FUTURE SUCCESS

Jun 30, 2018

This year our junior section has welcomed and recruited many new junior members of varying ages, abilities and experience. They have successfully been welcomed and integrated into our existing programs with ease and enjoyment.

FHC’s ‘road show’ clinics conducted in 8 Primary Schools in February targeted grade 1 and grade 2 students and was a huge success, with an even in take of talented young girls and boys rocking up to our Come and Try sessions. But this wasn’t always the case, a few years ago our Junior Section looked at the difficulty that we were having recruiting ‘first choice’ young sportspeople to our Club given the great grab for talent across local aussie rules, soccer, lacrosse and other sports. We were targeting grade 3 and 4 students, and many young females were coming through, but not those of the male kind, so something had to be done!

Over the last four years our recruiting strategies have changed (basically we bring in our recruits at a younger age now) and, combined with terrific coaching programs and personnel, by the time our young boys and girls are getting to U10 level, we are arguably the best performing boys and girls at that age in Victoria!

The U10 Hockey Victoria Boys and Girls 8 week competition has concluded and FHC have performed very well in the Girls and the Boys. We will re-enter these same teams into the 8 week Term 3 U10 HV competition.

U10 HV Girls Red – 1st
U10 HV Girls Blue – 2nd

U10 HV Boys Blue – 1st
U10 Boys Red – 3rd

In coming years we anticipate lots of team successes as this strength rises up through U12 to U14 to U16 and then seniors, and hopefully huge numbers of children achieving individual honours for the Western Wildcats (our regional teams in the annual junior state championships), Victoria and Australia!